MOSCOW, Jul 12, 2000 -- (BBC Monitoring) Many prototypes of armaments on
display at the UralsExpoArms 2000 exhibition are years ahead of the foreign
competition, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a message welcoming those
participating in the arms show in the Urals.

The show included demonstration flights by the Mi-24 helicopter and the
MiG-29 fighter equipped with high-precision weapons. T-80 and T-90S tanks and
Tyulpan and Giatsint self-propelled mortars were also displayed.

A tank support combat vehicle [the Russian abbreviation is BMPT, standing for
boyevaya mashina podderzhki tankov] is on display for the first time. It is
intended for protection against fire coming from grenade launchers. The vehicle
is equipped with three grenade launchers, a 30-millimetre cannon, antitank
guided missiles and a hull machine gun. All these weapons comprise a single
attack system. Targets are detected with the help of thermal imaging and optical
sighting devices. Locking onto a target can be done manually or automatically.

According to Russian Defense Ministry experts, the tank support combat
vehicle will have no competition within the next decade.